High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connections have become the standard in interconnection of high definition audio visual equipment. The interface has been well received, relatively problem free and accepted by consumers. However, as with all wired interconnections, the wiring itself often makes for troublesome or unsightly interconnection regardless of the interface.
In HDMI interfaces, High-Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection (HDCP) is used to assure the protection of secure content from copying by unauthorized equipment. In the analog world, each generation of copying introduces a small amount of content degradation, leading to a somewhat self limiting problem with multi-generational copying. However, in the digital environment, each copy is essentially a perfect copy of the original, leading to increased dependence upon copy protection and copy management for secure content to avoid compromise of the content and subsequent unauthorized use. HDCP provides such protection of the content between authorized devices using HDMI.
Several manufacturers are now attempting to address the inconvenience of hard wiring in the HDMI environment by use of wireless transmission of the content received from an HDMI/HDCP source or host device to a recipient “sink” device such as a television that might be more conveniently located in place that is not conducive to hard wiring. However, conversion of the content to wireless introduces security vulnerabilities that heretofore have not been adequately addressed or in many instances even recognized. These vulnerabilities can create a security breech. There are at least 4 scenarios to analyze: 1) standalone wireless repeater transmitter and standalone wireless repeater receiver, 2) standalone wireless repeater transmitter and embedded wireless repeater receiver, 3) embedded wireless repeater transmitter and standalone wireless repeater receiver, and 4) embedded wireless repeater transmitter and embedded wireless repeater receiver.
Initially, manufacturers are planning to target scenario #1 above which will work with existing HDMI/HDCP devices. Later as the wireless schemes become adopted they will be built-in to the devices and therefore Scenarios #2 and #3 will become important. Later, they will be built-in to all devices, and Scenario #4 will be important. Even though both content sources and display devices may have wireless capability built-in, they may need to accommodate devices that won't have it built-in as well.